Lots Of College Girls With Their Hands On The Bull's Testicles

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: "Lots Of College Girls With Their Hands On The Bull's Testicles" Hosted by Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty Release Date: July 7, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of the Armstrong & Getty On Demand podcast, hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty delve into a diverse range of topics, blending personal anecdotes with in-depth discussions on societal issues. From the complexities of homelessness terminology to the impact of recent Supreme Court decisions, the conversation offers listeners a comprehensive look at current events through the hosts' unique perspectives.

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1. Homelessness and Terminology

[02:25 – 05:07]

The episode begins with Armstrong and Getty discussing a troubling news story about a woman attacked by a homeless individual in California. This segues into a broader conversation about the terminology used to describe homelessness and its implications.

• Terminology Debate:

  • Jack Armstrong: Advocates for the term "vagrant" as it encompasses various underlying issues, primarily drug addiction. "[...] transient drug addict, but it's a little cumbersome." [03:19]
  • Joe Getty: Expresses frustration with terms like "homeless person," suggesting alternatives such as "crazy person," although he acknowledges none are perfect. [02:51]

• Policy Implications:

  • Jack Armstrong: Criticizes policies that focus solely on providing shelter without addressing the root causes like addiction. "If you make it as easy and comfortable as possible to be a jobless drug addict, you will have more jobless drug addicts." [04:44]
  • Joe Getty: Highlights the discrepancy in the prevalence of street homelessness between his college town and major cities like New York, attributing it to differing local policies. [03:22]

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2. Monument Protests and Historical Heritage

[05:07 – 07:39]

The hosts transition to discussing the impact of modern protests on historical monuments in New York City, particularly highlighting how security measures have altered the public's interaction with these landmarks.

• Impact on Monuments:

  • Joe Getty: Observes the heavy security and barriers erected around monuments like the Statue of Liberty, preventing tourists from fully experiencing these historical sites. "So I can't look at it to protect it from the protesters, as opposed to what we're always advocating..." [06:55]
  • Jack Armstrong: Critiques the approach of covering monuments to deter vandalism, arguing it diminishes the public's ability to appreciate historical symbols. [07:02]

• Underlying Issues:

  • The discussion emphasizes the tension between protecting historical sites and allowing free public access, questioning the effectiveness of current strategies in preserving heritage while addressing modern protest movements.

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3. Education and School Choice

[09:11 – 11:02]

Armstrong and Getty delve into the shortcomings of the current education system, advocating for school choice and critiquing the indoctrination they perceive in government schools.

• Critique of Government Schools:

  • Jack Armstrong: Points out the failure of public schools in teaching fundamental skills like reading, writing, and arithmetic. "The current government schools, bound up by the unions, are just not doing the job." [09:11]
  • Joe Getty: Shares personal experiences of students lacking knowledge of significant historical events, highlighting a gap in civics education. [09:59]

• Advocacy for School Choice:

  • Jack Armstrong: Promotes school choice as a solution to improve educational outcomes and combat systemic indoctrination. "It's for a number of reasons. Just purely, you know, reading, writing, arithmetic, success." [09:21]
  • Joe Getty: Emphasizes the importance of educating the youth with accurate historical and civic knowledge to foster informed future leaders. [10:13]

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4. Personal Experiences in New York City

[10:16 – 13:38]

The hosts share their recent trip to New York City, providing a firsthand account of the city's cultural and social landscape.

• Washington Square Park:

  • Joe Getty: Describes an encounter with a performance artist in Washington Square Park, critiquing modern art and its reception by the public. "Lots of college girls with their hands on the bull's testicles getting their pictures taken for their Instagram." [18:16]
  • Jack Armstrong: Questions the quality and purpose of such performance art, suggesting it may lack genuine artistic value. [38:05]

• Cultural Observations:

  • The conversation touches on the contrast between historical significance and contemporary social behaviors in iconic locations, highlighting generational differences in the perception of art and public spaces.

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5. U.S. Politics: Tariffs and Free Market Principles

[14:05 – 18:40]

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to discussing President Trump's tariff policies and the broader implications for the U.S. economy.

• Tariff Announcements:

  • Joe Getty: Reports on President Trump's decision to impose tariffs of up to 70% on a dozen unnamed countries, emphasizing the potential economic disruption. "President Trump said he will fire off letters to a dozen countries, [...] threatening to raise tariffs as high as 70%." [14:05]
  • Jack Armstrong: Analyzes the strategic nature of these tariffs, comparing them to academic pressures like final exams. "It reminds me of those dreams that torture many of us for the rest of our lives..." [14:59]

• Free Market Advocacy:

  • Joe Getty: Extols the virtues of the free market, highlighting its role in lifting people out of poverty and fostering innovation. "If you're a fan of capitalism, you know, this or free markets, it's lifted more people out of poverty than any other idea has ever had." [17:25]
  • Jack Armstrong: Reinforces the importance of investing in great ideas and supporting entrepreneurs as the backbone of economic growth. [18:16]

• Economic Implications:

  • The hosts discuss the volatility of the stock market in response to tariff threats, noting Wall Street's resilience and the uncertainty surrounding future trade negotiations. [15:28 – 16:06]

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6. Disaster and Infrastructure: Guadalupe River Tragedy

[20:27 – 24:36]

Transitioning from economic issues, Armstrong and Getty address a recent disaster involving the Guadalupe River, exploring the shortcomings in disaster preparedness and response.

• Tragic Event:

  • Joe Getty: Recounts the devastation caused by unexpectedly rising river levels, leading to significant loss of life. "There were all sorts of different camps for families and kids along the river there. [...] rising water levels. What was it, 26ft in 45 minutes." [21:07]
  • Jack Armstrong: Shares harrowing accounts of individuals caught in the flood, emphasizing the unpredictability and severity of such natural disasters. [24:02]

• Policy Critique:

  • Joe Getty: Criticizes the lack of effective warning systems and preparedness measures, citing statements from a Texas representative downplaying the need for proactive disaster management. "He said, this Texas congressman, he said, well, we actually have warning systems for hurricanes..." [22:00]
  • Jack Armstrong: Argues against complacency in disaster preparedness, advocating for practical measures over ideological resistance to government involvement. [22:39]

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7. Supreme Court: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's Approach

[24:39 – 31:28]

The final major discussion revolves around Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's recent performance on the Supreme Court, analyzing her judicial approach and its implications.

• Justice Jackson's Dissent:

  • Jack Armstrong: Critiques Jackson's dissent in a significant case, suggesting her opinions lack legal grounding and prioritize personal outcomes over constitutional interpretation. "Justice Jackson, the first black woman to serve on the Court, quickly emerged as a forceful critic of her conservative colleagues." [26:36]
  • Joe Getty: Commends Jackson for her outspokenness and willingness to challenge established norms within the judiciary. [27:02]

• Media and Public Perception:

  • Jack Armstrong: Highlights differing perspectives in media coverage, noting how publications like the National Review view Jackson's approach as unorthodox and ideologically driven. [28:40]
  • Joe Getty: Discusses the broader implications of Jackson's judicial philosophy on the balance of power and legal precedents. [29:34]

• Future Implications:

  • The hosts speculate on how Jackson's tenure might influence future Supreme Court decisions and the overall judicial landscape, emphasizing the ongoing struggle between tradition and progressive change. [31:03]

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Conclusion

Throughout the episode, Armstrong and Getty provide listeners with a candid and critical analysis of contemporary issues, blending personal experiences with informed commentary. From homelessness and education reform to economic policies and judicial dynamics, the conversation underscores the complexity of modern societal challenges and the importance of informed discourse in addressing them.

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Notable Quotes

• Jack Armstrong on Homelessness Terminology:
  "If you make it as easy and comfortable as possible to be a jobless drug addict, you will have more jobless drug addicts."
  [04:44]

• Joe Getty on Free Markets:
  "If you're a fan of capitalism, you know, this or free markets, it's lifted more people out of poverty than any other idea has ever had."
  [17:25]

• Jack Armstrong on School Indoctrination:
  "The current government schools, bound up by the unions, are just not doing the job."
  [09:11]

• Joe Getty on Justice Jackson:
  "She was wearing like a black loose dress, of course, sort of hippie looking thing."
  [37:20]

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Key Takeaways

• Terminology Matters: The language used to describe homelessness can influence public perception and policy approaches.
• Policy Effectiveness: Addressing root causes like addiction is crucial for meaningful solutions to homelessness.
• Protecting Heritage: Balancing monument preservation with modern protest movements remains a contentious issue.
• Education Reform: Advocating for school choice to improve educational outcomes and reduce indoctrination.
• Economic Policies: Tariffs and free market principles continue to shape the U.S. economic landscape amidst global uncertainties.
• Disaster Preparedness: Effective warning systems and proactive measures are essential to mitigate the impact of natural disasters.
• Judicial Influence: The approach of new Supreme Court justices, such as Ketanji Brown Jackson, can significantly alter the judicial and legal framework.

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This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the "Lots Of College Girls With Their Hands On The Bull's Testicles" episode, providing listeners with an insightful overview of the discussions and themes explored by Armstrong and Getty.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Joe Getty]

Time is precious and so are our pets. So time with our pets is extra precious. That's why we started Dutch. Dutch provides 24. 7 access to licensed vets with unlimited virtual visits and follow ups for up to five pets. You can message a vet at any time and schedule a video visit the same day. Our vets can even prescribe medication for many ailments and shipping is always free. With Dutch, you'll get more time with your pets and year round peace of mind when it comes to their vet care.

[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio.

[Joey Chestnut]

Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center.

[Michael]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Joey Chestnut]

Armstrong and Getty. And now here's armstrong and getty. 70.5 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. The Nathan's famous 4th of July champion of the world, Joey Chestnut. How do you feel? I was excited. I love being here. Man, I wish I ate a couple more.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm sorry, guys. I'll be back next year. That's greatness. That is the voice of greatness.

[Joey Chestnut]

Joey Chesnaugh. Hot dogs. I considered going. So we were in Manhattan, me and the boys for vacation and we watch every 4th of July since they were little. We watched the hot dog eating contest on ESPN too, and it's kind of a family tradition to watch that. And yeah, and I was right there and could have gone, but I thought I just the crowds and fighting in there and the hot sun, so I didn't go. But maybe I missed out on a lifetime memory right there by not watching a guy shove as many hot dogs in his mouth as he possibly could in a short amount of time.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think, you know, that is what that. Well, he absolutely did. You did. You, you, you passed on dream memory for your kids. On the other hand, that's the sort of idea that seems like a great one. Then you think about how long is it going to take us to get to Coney island, right? And then, you know.

[Joey Chestnut]

A day to two thirds of a day of vacation. Do I want to spend on this?

[Jack Armstrong]

That's got people jam hot dogs into their maws for five minutes.

[Joey Chestnut]

Any who, we just did a story about a woman that was attacked by a homeless person in California. My only reaction to that story is vagrant. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You, you, you don't like the term homeless person and I don't blame you. We need a quick short term for these people. Crazy person. I'm fine with crazy person. Or I don't know. That's not accurate either because it's not all mental illness. It's way more drug crazies than anything else.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's why I like the term vagrant, because it kind of lumps everybody. It covers everybody. I like transient drug addict, but it's a little cumbersome. And maybe some of these people aren't drug addicts, although the vast majority are. But my, my, the reason I'm on a jihad about this is if you make the fundamental focus of describing that person, their lack of a permanent address, then people think, well, that's, that's really unfortunate. They don't have a home and we need to solve that problem. No, the problem is they're a drug addict.

[Joey Chestnut]

Yeah, but.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or a vagrant, which kind of hints at it.

[Joey Chestnut]

The reason I wanted to bring it up in conjunction with being in New York City is I saw, I see every single day in the college town I live in more drug crazy, vagrant street people that frighten me every day than I saw in Manhattan walking around for three days. That shouldn't be. Yeah, that's, that, that's nuts. On its own, there aren't none in New York. But what, I mean, if you're from California, from a big city in California or even a small city, as I just said, it is refreshingly bum free to be in New York and it shouldn't be that way. Maybe if you're from, I don't know, Omaha and you go to New York, you think, oh my God, there's scary street people around. But for us, it was like, wow, it's so nice to be able to walk the streets without every 10ft. You wondering if this person's gonna stab me in the eye with a broken bottle? Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

It has been useful as a bi coastal American to observe the differences in outcomes directly tied to policies. I mean, it's not mysterious, it's not difficult to understand. There are, for instance, in South Carolina, there are just not bums and junkies. You see a beggar on a street corner once a week and they generally get roused by cops. Depends where you are. In the super lefty college towns, it's worse. But that just goes to prove my point. It's directly tied to incentives and disincentives. And, you know, at risk of belaboring the point that we've made many times, if you make it as easy and comfortable as possible to be a jobless drug addict, you will have more jobless drug addicts. Do you think that's doing those people a favor on any level? I would argue strenuously. It's not, it's the opposite.

[Joey Chestnut]

The one thing I did see in New York that bothered me a lot on the 4th of July, we were standing in the spot where George Washington took his first oath of office as the capital of our fine country was in New York City right there. It's a big old cool federal building, basically across from the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street. It's still there. And they've got a big cement platform that they've taken out of the ground. And it is now standing up with an inscription on it. And that's where George Washington stood to take the first oath, which obviously is a very, very big deal for the world, not just for the United States. The point Ken Burns is making in his new documentary, which we'll talk about later. But so while we were bumping around the. The southern tip of Manhattan on the Fourth of July and went over to see the Statue of Liberty and variety of different things, so many of the artifacts of our history of freedom of independence were surrounded by barriers because there is so concerned about protests. And I thought, so this is the way we handle it. We handle it on the end of the deal of the protests by putting a barrier around the statue. So I can't look at it to protect it from the protesters, as opposed to what we're always advocating arrest these people and make it so miserable to get arrested for defacing, you know, a statue like this that you don't do it where we're catching it on the wrong end, you need to catch it on the front end. So people aren't motivated to do it right now. People know they can get away with spray painting this statue of whichever founding father, so they have to cover it with all kinds of barricades and tape.

[Jack Armstrong]

And stuff like that.

[Joey Chestnut]

You can't even see it as a tourist.

[Jack Armstrong]

And if you just talked out some of these things that we do that are so nuts these days, if you were to describe. All right, we have a variety of ways we're proposing to deal with the fact that angry protesters who've been miseducated and indoctrinated in our government schools want to tear down the. The artifacts of our founding. Here is plan, and I would spell it out. And that includes covering up the monuments and statues so no one can see them. That would be roundly rejected. People would say, I don't care what else is in your stupid plan. You're missing the whole freaking point of having this statue. What's your next plan? And yet that idiotic plan is the one we've gone with, come on, America, we can do better than this.

[Joey Chestnut]

I noticed it was all around immigration, so anything that had to do with, like around Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, like the launching point there from Manhattan, they had covered up, blocked off, whatever. So they must have been expecting some sort of, you know, Trump is evil anti Ice something because they, they, they made it very difficult to get close to or touch anything that had to do with welcoming immigrants this country. So I'm assuming, which I thought was interesting, given I had a couple of experiences riding with Lyft drivers or Uber drivers that were from another land, you could tell by their accent, but who had great stories. I got to talking about, I got in the. An Uber black or Lyft black or whatever. He was driving an Escalade and young guy, thick accent from somewhere. And I said, this is your car? And he said, yeah. I said, how old are you? And he said, 25. And I said, well, this is pretty impressive. He said, yeah, I worked this to buy this. And then I, I'm trying to get another car and then I'm going to have a driver and all this stuff. And I thought that here's here. So what is the story on immigrants who do this as opposed to you're waving your home country's flag in the streets attacking cops. This land is awful.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joey Chestnut]

We should have a, a better. Some sort of conversation around that. People who work hard, come up with an idea, think it's great that they can do whatever they want here versus the you aren't giving me enough stuff crowd. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ground zero is the schools. It is absolutely the schools, which is one of the reasons school choice is so important and I'm so enthusiastic about it. It is for a number of reasons. Just purely, you know, reading, writing, arithmetic, success. The current government schools, bound up by the unions, are just not doing the job, obviously. So, yeah, in the raw purpose of school existing, I think school choice is a great thing. But also we've got to end the systematic indoctrination of the children into this perverse view of their own country. And they don't know a damn thing about their history. I've got some really interesting stuff on that, too. The recent numbers from Gallup. Gallup does a poll on civics and education and patriotism, that sort of thing. The current numbers are miserable among the young.

[Joey Chestnut]

Yeah. I hit my kids with some various questions about things or comments about things, and I was disappointed. The people or events they've never heard of at this current age in their lives, which is shocking. To me.

[Jack Armstrong]

But then why don't we pencil that in for hour three of the show? Let's talk about that.

[Joey Chestnut]

I was. I was LaGuardia Airport, getting ready to live in New York. And so they got a bookstore there, nice bookstore, and they've got a little display up front with the classics in it. And it had your, you know, your normal. The Great Gatsby and, you know, name. Name all your classic books that you have to read in high school or college. And To Kill a Mockingbird, you know, like 15 of those kind of books. And Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States, which is just a socialist reading of our nation's history included with those books. I mean, so that. That's. That's what we're fighting, which is just what you're talking about. No wonder people have those attitudes if that's what's displayed as a classic of reading.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, it's not the young people's fault. We can't blame them. We've just got to. And it's going to be a hard slog. We've got to teach them the truth and let some of that filter in there. There are generations that we have lost a significant number of the kids. And as they work their way through, you know, their lives, when that. When the generation that was most fiercely steeped in this crap, like the kids were in high school or college during the whole George Floyd, Covid madness, when they're in their 40s, 50s, taking positions of leadership, will they have left behind the awful indoctrination they received? I hope so, but. Oh, boy.

[Joey Chestnut]

Yeah, no kidding. Well, we got to take a break. We ought to hit the. The big tariff deadline that's going to hit on Wednesday that could be disruptive to the world. To let you know just a little bit what's going on there. But also pencil in the characters encountered in Greenwich Village at Washington Square Park. A performance artist of a couple of different kinds. And my son playing chess with an old drunk guy. One of those chess things they do at the park, you know, the speed chest. Yeah, not chest. I just said chest, Michael.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joey Chestnut]

Thank you for that, Michael. Now you put it in my head.

[Jack Armstrong]

Idiot.

[Joey Chestnut]

Henry said that is the best thing I've ever done in my life was his experience coming away from playing chess with this guy. It was really something to watch. I can't wait to tell you that story. Among other things on the way. Stay here.

[Annabe]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Michael]

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[Joe Getty]

Time is precious and so are our pets. So time with our pets is extra precious. That's why we started Dutch. Dutch provides 24 access to licensed vets with unlimited virtual visits and follow ups for up to five pets. You can message a vet at any time and schedule a video visit the same day. Our vets can even prescribe medication for many ailments and shipping is always free. With Dutch. You'll get more time with your pets and year round peace of mind when it comes to their vet care.

[Joey Chestnut]

President Trump said he will fire off letters to a dozen countries, which he did not name, threatening to raise tariffs as high as 70% due to go into effect early next month. I sign some letters and they'll go.

[Jack Armstrong]

Out on Monday, probably 12 different amounts of money, different amounts of tariffs.

[Joey Chestnut]

Aboard Air Force One, President Trump explained why he prefers letters to other forms of communication.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think that letters are better for us.

[Joey Chestnut]

I've said that all along because you have hundreds of countries, you know, you have over 200 countries and you can't sit down with 200 countries. So I got to admit I had completely forgotten about the 90 day tariff pause that happened. Well, 90 days ago Wednesday when he said, I don't worry about it, we'll figure it out over the next 90 days. Well, time is up now and those tariffs are going to kick in Wednesday. Unless there's some sort of deal made, I guess.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? It reminds me of those dreams that torture many of us for the rest of our lives, that we wake up on the day of a final in college or high school or whatever and realize we haven't studied and blah blah blah, like I'm 60 years old, why am I having college dreams anyway? Yeah, I was reminded oh, that's right. The whole tariff thing, the madness, the trade deals, the. Oh my God, the chaos. Wall street is concerned, the stock market is plunged. Yeah, that's back again, Jack, they gave.

[Joey Chestnut]

You an entire semester to be ready for this paper. How are you just getting around to it now?

[Jack Armstrong]

Dozens and dozens and dozens of countries, more than 170 countries, said Trump the other day. And the new tariff rates which he announced, remember back in the day, those so called reciprocal tariffs which turned out to be just a weird creation of numbers they decided on anyway. They range from 10 to 70% with payments due by August 1st. It's, you know, it's coming to the wall negotiation wise. And the rhetoric and the vows and the threats are going to get more and more heated.

[Joey Chestnut]

Stock market, all kinds of different indexes hit all time highs last week.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. Because of the concern, Jack, over the. Wait, what? Yeah, I know. It's the belief among the folks who talk about this sort of thing for a living is that that sort of volatility and uncertainty is just kind of. People are getting used to it now and they think, well, it's. It came out pretty well the last couple of rounds of terrible threats and nothing terrible happens, so I guess it probably won't. Well, we'll have to see. I don't know. Oh, he's also. He was threatening additional tariffs. I love this. On your brics group of emerging economies. That's your Brazil, Russia, China, they all got together and met in Rio de Janeiro. Iran. Is the I right in. In bric. It's funny, the Journal left that out. Anyway, so punitive terrorists on them for being.

[Joey Chestnut]

No, not in Brick. That. What's the other one? We can't. That we heard like before we went on vacation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I can't.

[Joey Chestnut]

What's that other one? It's a. It's a bad word. It's like a negative sounding word. No, Brick is a. Brazil, Russia, India.

[Jack Armstrong]

Really?

[Joey Chestnut]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ah, India's got to come over here to our side.

[Joey Chestnut]

Anywho, so do you. What? What? Speaking of the tariffs and all that sort of stuff, I standing in front of the. In the markets, hitting a record. Standing in front of the stock exchange on the 4th of July taking pictures with my kids. And I was explaining to him on this. This is the most important thing that mankind has done. This. And not the stock exchange specifically, but just the whole free market. The reason we're the most powerful country in the history of the world is democracy in the free market and being able to generate the revenue to have the Military and the, you know, and the technical advancement, everything like that. And, you know, if you're a fan of capitalism, you know, this or free markets, it's lifted more people out of poverty than any other idea has ever had. I mean, it's the greatest thing to ever happen to mankind.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, a million times more.

[Joey Chestnut]

Yeah, so that's not even close. More people should visit the New York Stock Exchange with reverence for what it represents in a good way, as opposed to it always being used as like a negative. Wall street versus Main street, you know, that whole dumb thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, investing in great ideas and helping them grow to employ more people and sell great products to people who really want them. What could be more evil, right?

[Joey Chestnut]

Yeah, but the bull. So the giant bull on Wall street and, and Manhattan was more crowded than it's ever been. Anytime I've ever visited it in my life, which I finally figured out was because of a giant soccer tournament that was going on. But anyway, the line for the bull was like six blocks long and everybody was getting underneath the Wall street bull and rubbing its testicles for their pictures.

[Jack Armstrong]

The bull is intact, Jack, as we say in the veterinary business.

[Joey Chestnut]

Lots of college girls with their hands on the bull's testicles getting their pictures taken for their Instagram. I found weird.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, it's a little uncomfortable, but I'm glad America can still laugh.

[Joey Chestnut]

Should I be looking at this? I feel like I shouldn't be looking at this. We got a lot more on the way. Stay here.

[Annabe]

Armstrong and Gettys.

[Michael]

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[Annabe]

And for me coming back, it just. I'm overwhelmed with emotion and I'm overwhelmed with memories and I Can't get over looking at those cabins right next to the Guadalupe River. That river was the source of so much joy and fun for us, Erica. We would spend hours and hours in that river. There was this thing called the Blob, which was like this inflated balloon type thing that we would jump on and then the person at the end would jump off into the water. And it was so much fun. And we'd go looking for dinosaur fossils and that was where we spent so much of our time at camp. That is what we loved. And to think that that same river is the source of this devastation, it's just hard to wrap my head around.

[Joey Chestnut]

Yeah, there's a reporter who actually attended that very camp as a kid, obviously where so many children and adults lost their lives. The total number now, whatever it is, 50 some. It's horrible.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, there were all sorts of different camps for families and kids along the river there. Beautiful, you know, river country of Texas and the rise of the water, just horrific. Astonishing rising water levels. What was it, 26ft in 45 minutes.

[Joey Chestnut]

Or something like that?

[Jack Armstrong]

Just, just unimaginable death toll.

[Joey Chestnut]

Currently 81. 81. But I saw a Texas representative on one of the shows yesterday and he said, he was basically saying, look, I mean, when you get a once in a hundred year weather, something happened, there's not much you can do. I mean, you can't be prepared for every once in a century event.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, you don't want to be cavalier about it, but they call disasters disasters because they're disastrous. It's rare and terrible.

[Joey Chestnut]

Well, like I said earlier, it's one of the worst stories I've ever heard. It's just absolutely horrible.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah, but the whole.

[Joey Chestnut]

What went wrong with the warning system? He said, this Texas congressman, he said, well, we have, we actually have warning systems for hurricanes. You can see those coming. Not like this river rising, which you couldn't see coming, he said, and we have hundreds of people die all the time in these disasters. So there's just not much you can do for preparing for something like this. But, man, oh, what a terrible story.

[Jack Armstrong]

And especially if it happens in the wee hours of the morning where everybody's sound asleep, when everybody sound asleep, it was just absolutely terrible, you know, and again, I, I have no desire to be cavalier about. No, because if there are things that can be done, they should be done. But it reminds me of, you know, certain political divides in the country. There are some people who think that if they just pass enough laws or institute enough systems or levy enough taxes or Whatever. We can remove uncertainty and danger and, you know, the frailty of human life from the world. Whereas those of us generally on the right side of the aisle understand that. No, this is just sometimes hurricanes hit cities and it's horrible. And you rebuild and do the best you can. It doesn't mean we need more government. Anyway.

[Joey Chestnut]

Yeah, I, I heard one reporter talking, or actually it was somebody who was at the camp. So they had gotten to high ground and survived, obviously. So it's the middle of the night, word starts getting around, hey, the river's rising. Maybe we ought to get out of here. And you didn't have much time. And people were running to their cars and this person was talking about how there were dozens and dozens of cars that were. People had gotten to the cars and there was. There's one little dirt road and they're kind of in a line and people starting to leave. And then pretty soon they all just started floating. And then you saw headlights disappearing under the water and the cars just.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joey Chestnut]

And that's. They were gone.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Yeah, I heard a story. We hadn't intended on talking about this that much, but it's just so amazing and terrible and heartbreaking. But this guy woke up to the sounds of the. The storm lashing their cabin and he decided to get out of bed. And the water was knee high.

[Joey Chestnut]

Oh my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

And so he yelled for his wife, hey, we gotta get out of there. They ran around, grab their cell phones and like a bag they hadn't unpacked with some critical stuff. And before they could hit the door, it was chest high.

[Joey Chestnut]

Oh my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joey Chestnut]

Oh, I can't imagine the panic.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just awful. Anyway, it's a tragedy. So on a completely different topic, I heard on vacation, I was trying not to, you know, check into the news much because it's good for the soul to check out for a while. But I did hear that Katangi Brown Jackson and Amy Coney Barrett were in a bit of middle aged be robed women cat fight. Yeah, I thought, that's too good.

[Joey Chestnut]

I just took in some of the headlines on that, but didn't do a deep vibe. But I thought, man, this is an Armstrong and Getty story right here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, well, so it's so interesting because the New York Times has this piece about it. Katanji Brown Jackson makes herself heard, prompting a rebuke. So that's their headline. She makes herself heard. Up with women. Up with. Because she's a black gal. Of course, you know, they're enthused about that Adam Liptak writing this story, and he mentions that she wrote five majority opinions. That's the fewest of any member of the Court. But her voice resonated nonetheless in an unusually large number of concurring and dissenting opinions. Several of them warned that the Court was taking lawless shortcuts, et cetera, et cetera. The final blockbuster case involving birthright citizenship. Actually, it had virtually nothing to do with birthright citizenship. It was about nationwide injunctions. But she called it an existential threat to the rule of law. Then Lip Tech goes on to say Justice Jackson is the Court's newest member, having just concluded her third term. Other justices have said it took them years to find their footing. But Justice Jackson, the first black woman to serve on the Court, quickly emerged as a forceful critic of her conservative colleagues. And lately, their approach to the Trump agenda. Her opinion, sometimes joined by no other justices, have been subject to scornful criticism, but also criticism from the other two liberal members of the wing. And he doesn't get into the fact that she talks more than any other justice on the court. So let's forget ideology and the courts here. I think we're both going in the same direction. Go ahead.

[Joey Chestnut]

That's an interesting reading of that. So it's brave of her to not do what other justices have done, where you show up as the newbie and kind of, you know, learn the ropes, get your. Get your sea legs, figure out how this whole thing works and ease into it. The fact that she shows up and talks like, five times as much as any other justice they see as brave and a good thing. Who. Who would read it that way?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, and unleashes. Unleashes these blistering dissents in which the other two liberals are like, oh, too far. But that's Admiral. She's heard, prompting a rebuke. Okay, super. But I was gonna say, you know, put that. I don't know, you're in a technology company or you're. You're running an auto rental agency or something, and the new person comes in and. And doesn't care about tradition and talks more than anybody, and. And even her allies think that's not admirable. That's dumb.

[Joey Chestnut]

Right. And annoying.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. So the National Review, surprisingly, had a different take on the whole thing. Justice Jackson's misguided attack on wr. But they mentioned that. Oh, I think it's back here. Amy Coney Barrett was rather direct in saying her. Oh, my God, I forgot. I lost the quote. I apologize. She said that the scathing Dissent that everybody's paying attention to. There it is. Here it is. Sorry. We will not dwell on Justice Jackson's argument, which is at odds with more than two centuries worth of press, not to mention the Constitution itself, which is a little condescending. But I like it that the principal dissent focuses on conventional legal terrain. Justice Jackson, however, chooses a startling line of attack that is tethered neither to these sources nor frankly to any doctrine whatsoever. That's really direct.

[Joey Chestnut]

Right. That leads me to believe that she's like the ultimate example of outcomes. I work for the outcomes that I want, as opposed to looking at the law on this and deciding what fits the Constitution and what doesn't. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Saying essentially, there's no legal reasoning here. The National Review, Dan McLaughlin, writing about it, talks about the fairly mundane, very legalistic, you know, nature of the case. Yet this case produced an anguished and histrionic dissent from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson that included an assault on textualism so overwrought that even Justice Sonia Sotomayor pointedly refused to join the footnote that included it. As a progressive judge, when Kagan thinks you're wrong and Sotomayor thinks you've gone overboard, you should probably rethink your choices.

[Joey Chestnut]

So ultimately, it was a step toward lower courts can't constantly jump in and stop things the President's trying to do. Is that what happened?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's correct. Yeah. It would take a long time to explain it, and I'd have to do a fair amount of reading to explain it. Well, but, yeah, that's. That's the long and short of it.

[Joey Chestnut]

Interesting. It did seem like it was happening a lot. On the other hand, we have presidents, you know, going several administrations back, making law for the entire land with their. Their pen and their phone a lot more than they used to.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And. And Tim Sandifer, interestingly, we talked about this briefly. He actually agreed substantially with Jackson's conclusion that if the government is behaving unconstitutionally in District 2, well, they're behaving unconstitutionally everywhere because of the nature of our Constitution, and so they ought to be stopped everywhere. It's. It's a minority opinion. But whenever Tim, including Shouting for Liberty, I'm at least inclined to listen.

[Joey Chestnut]

It's a minority opinion. Including among the Supreme Court justices?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah. And even among the liberals, at least in terms of her unhinged, histrionic descent.

[Joey Chestnut]

But unlike, you know, like gay marriage or something, this seems like one of those things that we're gonna wrestle with as a. As a country. As a government for a while, this is one of those big things that's gonna have to get figured out over time.

[Jack Armstrong]

I would agree. Because a lot of the norms of yesteryear don't apply anymore. And so some of the rules that were utterly unnecessary about, you know, dozens and dozens and dozens of injunctions limiting what the president's trying to do, Tim pointed out, well, you've got presidents trying to do stuff they shouldn't do over and over again now because that norm has been chucked out. Yeah, it's, It's. It's uncertain territory and not terribly pleasant either.

[Joey Chestnut]

Honestly, I didn't go news blackout on vacation. I never do that. But for a couple of reasons. One, I'm just, you know, a guy likes the news and is curious about the. Curious about the news. And two, it wouldn't be the best thing for my job to be completely out of touch with what's going on for a week and a half, but definitely less news than I normally do. And I feel like having a. Being a little closer to where most voters are in terms of just like, barely knowing what's going on. And it's kind of funny to think that the majority, the vast majority of people vote with just a little bit of information, somewhere between a little bit and none about most major stories.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, right. You know, I was troubled by a couple of stories I checked into, because, like, for instance, the New York Times thing, there are a couple of examples I thought, oh, my God, that's misleading. Yeah. Like them characterizing the big beautiful bill. The tax reform is benefits mostly the rich, even though they themselves called that false when it was originally passed. And as I pointed out before, yes, tax relief helps people who pay taxes more than it helps people who don't pay taxes. But the point being, most voters get only just a little snippet of information, and they base their judgments on that. Which is why political pros would say to guys like us, hey, I appreciate all your highfalutin ideas and your love of the Constitution, blah, blah, blah. No, we either scare them or we bribe them. It's amazing to get in the poll to go to the polls.

[Joey Chestnut]

It's amazing that this works because obviously you have very, very smart people like the Tim Sander for the world, who do deep dives into the issues and the, you know, all the policy papers and all these different think tanks. So it occurs at that level for some people, but the vote then comes down to people who are, like I said, somewhere between having none and a little bit of information. On the vote. So it's amazing this whole thing works at all.

[Jack Armstrong]

It barely does, and I'm not sure how long it will. But to paraphrase Charles Krauthammer, as we often have, if you can scare and or bribe the herd into voting the right way, then you can do the things that matter. And that's why those think tanks exist in those policy papers. Because once you get the keys to the car, you got to figure out where to drive it.

[Joey Chestnut]

I have got to talk about the performance artist I saw in one of the most famous hippie parks in the world, Washington Square park in New York. Among other things, we get to stay here.

[Annabe]

Armstrong and Getty.

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[Joey Chestnut]

So I just got back from vacation. I took the boys to Florida. We were going to spend the entire week plus a couple of days in Florida, but we got too dang hot. I had a really, really good time while we were there. Saw so many drag queens, flipped our jet ski. I cut myself. I bled a lot. Luckily I wasn't eaten by sharks. We'll have to talk about that later, but wow. So I decided on a spur of the moment, I thought what can we do while we're here on the East Coast? So I, we flew up to New York. My kids never been to New York. I love New York. And Henry wanted to see some of the stuff from the Dylan movie because he's really into the Bob Dylan movie. So he went to Greenwich Village. We went to Cafe Cafe Hua, which is the first place he goes in that movie and, and stuff like that. But we went to Washington Square park, which is Greenwich Village. And if you've ever seen a Movie about hippies. You've seen that park, the big arch there. It's like hippie central. I mean the hippie central back in the day was there. And in San Francisco, those are your two spots. All your favorite hippies have been to Washington Square park and it's still full of all kinds of college kids. NY, NYU's right there and all kinds of interesting stuff. And we get there and it's, it's beautiful evening, crowded, very festive. My son was oldest son, was really digging the vibe. Very, very artsy, fartsy. We probably all got high, it was so thick with marijuana smoke. But there was this chick doing some performance art. She had a big piece of paper spread out on the sidewalk and a bowl of black paint and she would dip her really, really long hair into the paint and then she would fling around making all these body movements to this wacky music she was playing. And then she would paint with their bare feet and hands and her hair on this big piece of paper. And my kids are not really into that sort of thing and they were, they were mocking it under their breath as, as was their father. A lot of ah, that symbolizes man's and humanity demand obviously, you know, that sort of thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

How was she clad? Just out of curiosity.

[Joey Chestnut]

The human soul wrestling with its ID clearly is what's going on here. She was wearing like a black loose dress, of course, sort of hippie looking thing. Yeah, exactly. And what I couldn't figure out while this woman was dancing around making this is because I reading people's faces gathered around it, it seemed like there were way more people closer to our point of view than her point of view. I mean it seemed like a lot more of what the hell is this? Or does she think this is actually art? Or is there anybody here that's buying this? I mean it seems like there was a lot more that going even in Washington Square park than people who are really touched by her deep emotional expression.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'd want to ask her just for the sake of the argument, what if you indeed were dancing out the struggle of mankind against the cosmos, whipping your hair about, but the result was kind of random nonsense, would that still be good art?

[Joey Chestnut]

Quick question. If I was bad at this, would anybody be able to tell the difference?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. How long did it take you to get this good at this? Or like, was it the first time?

[Joey Chestnut]

I feel like I could do this, having never done it before would be.

[Jack Armstrong]

Like, wow, that's got to be a standard for art, doesn't it? If you were as good as you'll ever get the first time you did it. I'm not sure. I don't know.

[Joey Chestnut]

We were over at the Met. I mean, in the modern art wing. I mean, it really looks like you could do that the first time. And it's in the Met. I mean, that's one of the most famous museums in the world, so I don't know. I'm the wrong guy to ask, I guess.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Google emperors who have no clothes. So discipline is returning to schools. Certain red states have said, yeah, this whole restorative justice nonsense is crap.

[Joey Chestnut]

It is crap.

[Jack Armstrong]

So the tide is turning on that issue as well. We've got a long way to go, but that's good news. Tough times for Elon Musk, but he's starting a new political party all next hour. Stay with us.

[Annabe]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.